Friday, 28 March 2014

Last week, we mentioned the absence of information as to
where our hard-earned wages go once they are turned into local government confetti – otherwise known as the
council tax.Since then, we have been looking back on some recent
spending by Boston Borough Council on the town’s Geoff Moulder Leisure Centre, the
figures for which are only available by poring through spreadsheets that list
every sou over and above £250
that the council spends each month.

Whilst this may pay lip service to the buzzwords of openness and transparency, we still think that the presentation could be
improved if the powers that be really wanted us to find out what they’re up to.

Regular readers will recall that the council came to the rescue of the Moulder pool
by creating a five-year partnership with the Witham Schools Federation and
Boston Amateur Swimming Club, which started late in 2011.

The plan involved spending £195,000 from reserves, with
£150,000 being repaid over five years from the “partners,” and the remaining
£45,000 being funded from the capital reserve – in other words, written off.

A rough tally of spending between the start of the deal
until mid-2012 saw spending reach almost £275,000 – and without any apparent
discussion.

But the spending doesn’t appear to have ceased.

In November last year, the cost of “GMLC Equipment” was
listed at £54,000, and alterations at Creations Gym were more than £71,000.

Another £4,000 was spent the following month.

But supposedly it wasn’t all bad news.

A couple of years ago, Boston Borough Council approved the
installation of solar panels at the GMLC – rushing through a £125,000 spend which was heavily
criticised at the time – along with other energy “efficiencies.”

Whilst huge savings were trumpeted, we note thatthe GMLC electricity bill for last October was
£6,100 – compared with just under £5,000 in February 2011 …a year before the super saving panels were
installed.

***

Just as an aside, another item that caught our Boston Eye was a charge of £875 for a “safety officer for Boston Christmas market.
Would that be the same Christmas Market that was cancelled
after the much welcomed demise of Boston Business “Improvement” District? It
surely would!

***

However, accounting of some sort is available on the Boston
Borough Council website in the form of a virtual booklet of the kind that
would, no doubt, have been sent with our tax demand had the need for savings
apparently not been so great.

The assumption behind such a production is that people will
seek out information of this kind on the internet – but it is still no
substitute for making sure that taxpayers properly understand where their money
is going.

And nor is it even that.

In the case of this year’s booklet, it tells us little about
how money has been spent on items that are of direct benefit to us as
contributors – but merely looks forward to blowing next year’s contributions.

After explanations of the tax itself and details of payments
and exemptions, we are told: “Your Council Tax goes towards paying for the
following (examples given, not an exhaustive list.)”

Hmmmm.

“Leisure” will spend £823,500 in the coming year, on such
things as the Geoff Moulder Leisure Complex – there’s a surprise – plus healthy
walks and sports and play development.

“Housing, property and communities” will get through £1,970,000
to pay for the Municipal Buildings, helping the homeless, footway lighting,
country parks, and property services.

A fairly modest £26,400 expenditure on IT buys computer and
technology services.

Something called “built environment and development" will pay
£529,100 for planning, building controls, advice and enforcement, parking, and
the May Fair.

“HR and Business transformation" will blow £308,000 on civic
functions, communications, training, recruitment, payroll, and graphics.

And so it goes on …

What all this comes down to is that Boston Borough Council –
unlike days gone by, when councils were truly responsible for our local
community – now spends most of its income on its own existence.

And what is that existence for …?

Mainly to collect the council tax for the benefit of
Lincolnshire County Council and Lincolnshire Police since – as the borough
council continues to remind us, it retains less than 12% of the tax it collects
for is own needs – and much of that goes on salaries, offices, IT and all the
rest of the costly razzamatazz that accompanies
top heavy bureaucracy.

As we observed last week, the thrust continually to save
money by sharing services with neighbouring authorities is little more than a
lemming-like leap from the cliff top that will eventually result in district
councils themselves being merged in favour of an even more Lincoln centric
situation than we have already.

***

Even worse, when Boston Borough Council tries to justify its
charges with promises of service, what does it come up with?

Improving our town
centre … It was supposed to happen but despite all the expense never did.
The mess in the Market Place bears daily witness to this.

Supporting rural
communities … to do what, exactly?

Delivering “one-stop”
council services in Boston … presumably this means a gradual closure of
facilities until there is just one place to stop at to pay bills, get advice,
etc, etc.The back end of W H Smith’s
shop, perhaps?

Improving prospects
for business … the figures speak for themselves.

Investment and
employment … by whom, and where? See above.

Protecting our
history and heritage … See “improving our town centre.”

Promoting tourism
… too many opportunities have already been missed for this promise to have a
snowball’s chance in hell – the road to which we are told is paved with good
intentions.

***

Talk about rubbing salt in the wound to squeeze that extra
morsel of satisfaction out of a one-sided victory …

With no apparent sense of irony Council Leader Pete Bedford
has written to a local “newspaper” to “praise” council staff “for all they have done to safeguard
services.” He goes on to talk of the recent “100 per cent voluntary sign-up to changes
in terms and conditions” against a history of pay freezes.

“As everyone is aware the continued economic difficulties
have impacted severely on the public sector and local government and this will
only worsen into the future rather than improve,” he goes on.

“However, much has been achieved in the most difficult
circumstances of the past few years and none of this would have been possible
if the staff had not been willing to work with us.”

So what form did this willingness take?

At the beginning of the year, the council told us that
whilst it hoped that the proposed changes to terms and conditions would be
voluntarily accepted by all staff, “the council
intends to issue notices of dismissal with the offer of re-engagement on the
new terms and conditions for those who do not voluntarily accept.”

If you put a gun to someone’s head, it is scarcely
surprising if they go along with whatever you ask them to “volunteer.”

Treating the electorate with similar contempt by assuming that
their attention span is so short that they will be stupid enough to overlook
the fact that a threat of redundancy becomes heroic team playing in the space
of just three months adds insult to injury.

***

Last week’s revelations about the visit by the Latvian Ambassador
almost beggared belief – but one interesting side effect was that it apparently
lured Boston’s sole English Democrat Councillor,
David Owens out of hibernation
to join the howls of protest.

We use the H
word because at the last count of figures for attendance at meetings,
Councillor Owens has missed every one of the Boston Town Area Committee
meetings – which is where his ward is most greatly affected – and every other
meeting of the full council.

That’s the bad news.The good news is that he doesn’t have a place on any other committees –
or else his record would probably be worse.

As far as the Latvian “invasion” was concerned, we hear that
Councillor Owens was concerned that everyone – rather than a select few –
should have been invited to attend the meeting.

We’re sure that he would have attended.

***

Still more news of the enthusiasm with which our local
police tackle problems in Boston.

A reader tells us that at 3-30pm on Monday, no fewer than nine youths on cycles were riding
through Strait Bargate in a group with several stragglers following behind –
doubtless seeing the area as a Haven
for their Hijinks

One of them was pedalling whilst holding holding a second
bike which he passed to another youth who came from New Street, who joined
them, doing wheelies among the pedestrians.

We’ve lost count of the number of times that the police have
promised to “clamp down” and “get tough” with cyclists who ignore the rules.

But it was good to hear from our mystery shopper that the
police were to be seen out and about at the time.

A few minutes later in Pescod Square, he spotted two PCSOs
standing around outside Wilko chatting to a couple of local schoolgirls. –
doubtless stressing the importance of crime prevention.

***

Finally as you've been so kind since our return, we're giving you a week off for good behaviour – well, actually we're out of circulation for a few days, and back on Friday 11th April

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.comYour e-mails will be treated in confidence
and published anonymously if requested.

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About the author

is written and edited by retired Lincolnshire born writer and broadcaster Malcolm Swire, who was brought up in London, where he began his career in journalism.
In the 1960s he joined the Boston Standard before returning to London to write for the UK’s national news agency, the Press Association – then based in Fleet Street.
He returned to Lincolnshire –where his family history goes back more than a century – in various public relations roles, before becoming a founder member of BBC Radio Lincolnshire,where he created the station's Go for Gold appeal,which raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local charities.
Over the years, he read the news, presented programmes and retired from the BBC as the station's Programme Organiser and Deputy Managing Editor.
He started the Boston Eye blog in February 2007 and has vowed to continue until Boston Borough Council's leadership is all that it should be!
He has dug in for a long wait!